I think it shifts things from being an accident or misfortune into being something that he did to himself. Does it make it less tragic? No. But it does drains almost all of the sympathetic feelings for him from it. Instead of "how cruel for that to happen to him and his family", it's "his selfishness really cost his family". Now it's just another cautionary tale of reckless stupidity. Maybe that makes it more tragic, I don't know.